Sections: Information | Description | Reviews | Fun Stuff | Teacher Ideas | Covers | Penguin Readers, Afrikaans, Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Scots, Serbian, Slovakian, Spanish, and Vietnamese Covers
Information
Information on identifying editions is from Richard Walker’s “Roald Dahl – A Guide to Collecting His First Editions”.
- First editions:
- Alfred Knopf, 1970, USA.
- Illustrated by: Donald Chaffin
- To identify: Used a ‘First Edition’ statement and published in a jacket priced at $3.95.
- Allen & Unwin, 1970, UK.
- Illustrated by: Donald Chaffin
- To identify: Used their standard single statement (‘First published in Great Britain in’ followed by the date). Published without a jacket and not priced.
- Alfred Knopf, 1970, USA.
- Later editions:
- Puffin, 1974, USA and UK.
- Illustrated by: Jill Bennett
- To identify: Published only in soft cover using a single statement and priced at 20p and $0.65.
- Unwin/Hyman, 1978, UK.
- Illustrated by: Tony Ross
- To identify: Lists this publisher, then the first publication and date with Allen and Unwin, then ninth impression. Under that is a copyright date for Dahl and under that ‘illustrations © Tony Ross, 1988 – published with jacket priced at £6.95.
- Viking, 1996, USA.
- Illustrated by: Quentin Blake
- To identify: Used a number line in a jacket that is not priced and lacks a Viking logo on the spine. (See note on Richard’s site…)
- Knopf, 2002, Canada.
- Illustrated by: Quentin Blake
- To identify: Used a number line and a jacket priced at $15.95 and $23.95 (for the Canadian market)
- Puffin, 1974, USA and UK.
- Connections:
- Boggis the Farmer shares a name with the protagonist from “Parson’s Pleasure.”
- Recent news:
- Related books:
- Roald Dahl 15 Book Box Set
- Roald Dahl’s Glorious Galumptious Story Collection
- Roald Dahl’s Scrumdiddlyumptious Sticker Book
- Roald Dahl’s Creative Writing with Fantastic Mr Fox: How to Write a Marvellous Plot
- The Marvellous Roald Dahl Library
- The Puffin Roald Dahl Collection 1
- The Roald Dahl Centenary Boxed Set
- The Roald Dahl Collection
- Movies:
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
- Theater:
- Fantastic Mr. Fox adapted by David Wood
- Fantastic Mr. Fox (opera), 1998, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles, USA
- Fantastic Mr. Fox: A Play adapted by Sally Reid
- Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox 2016-2017 UK Tour
- Audio Books:
- 3 Favourite Stories read by Roald Dahl
- 5 Favourite Stories read by Roald Dahl
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Four More Stories read by Roald Dahl
- Der fantastische Mr. Fox read by Christian Berkel
- Fantastic Mr. Fox read by John Baddeley
- Fantastic Mr. Fox read by Lionel Jeffries
- Fantastic Mr. Fox read by Roald Dahl
- Fantastic Mr. Fox read by full cast
- Fantastic Mr. Fox read by Chris O'Dowd
- Fantastic Mr. Fox read by Martin Jarvis
- Fantastic Mr. Fox read by full cast
- Fantastic Mr. Fox and Other Animal Stories read by Chris O'Dowd, Geoffrey Palmer, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Martin Jarvis
- Fantastique Maître Renard read by Christine Delaroche and Daniel Prévost
- Roald Dahl Audio Books read by David Walliams, Stephen Fry, Kate Winslet, Chris O'Dowd, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Peter Serafinowicz, Miranda Richardson, Richard Ayoade, Douglas Hodge
- Roald Dahl Audio Books (10 CD Collection) read by Simon Callow, Miriam Margolyes, Geoffrey Palmer, James Bolam, Andrew Sachs, June Whitfield, Timothy West, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Martin Jarvis
- The Roald Dahl Audio Collection read by Roald Dahl
- The Roald Dahl Soundbook read by Roald Dahl
- Trickery read by Kevin Eldon, Stephen Mangan, Cillian Murphy, Derek Jacobi, Richard E. Grant, Stephanie Beacham, Jessica Hynes, Andrew Scott and Tom Felton
- War read by Dan Stevens, Cillian Murphy, Sophie Okonedo, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Stephen Mangan
- TV Shows:
- Jackanory (1965)
- Buy this book:
Important note: From 2022 onwards, Puffin has edited selected Dahl books to remove sensitive language and insert new sentences not written by Dahl. If you would prefer to read the original text, ensure you get a copy published before 2022 or one of the “Classic Collection” published by Penguin.
Description
Someone’s been stealing from the three meanest farmers around, and they know the identity of the thief—it’s Fantastic Mr. Fox! Working alone they could never catch him; but now fat Boggis, squat Bunce, and skinny Bean have joined forces, and they have Mr. Fox and his family surrounded. What they don’t know is that they’re not dealing with just any fox—Mr. Fox would rather die than surrender. Only the most fantastic plan can save him now.
Reviews
- “Little Private Lives” by Margot Hentoff (The New York Review of Books)
- “Picture books for the younger set” by Maurice Dunlevy from the August 14, 1971 The Canberra Times – Canberra, Australia (read online)
Fun Stuff
Merchandise
- Elsewhere on the web:
- Limited edition prints by illustrator Jill Bennett
- Book-A-Minute Bedtime Story
- Custom binding by artist Erin Fletcher
Teacher Ideas
- Fantastic Mr. Fox – Character Traits
- PDF with activities related to alliterative character traits and names
- Fantastic Mr. Fox – Classroom Ideas
- Mostly language and reading type activities
- Fantastic Mr. Fox – Comprehensive Unit Plan
- Includes various social studies, math, writing, and creative activities
- Fantastic Mr. Fox – Lesson Plans
- Using Fantastic Mr Fox to explore Roald Dahl’s use of alliteration
- Fantastic Mr. Fox – Novel Study (Preview)
- PDF preview of Novel Study including everything you need to teach the novel (full version available for purchase on novelstudies.org)
- Fantastic Mr. Fox – Online Games
- Online matching, concentration, and flash card games with concepts from the book
- Fantastic Mr. Fox – Unit Plan
- Comprehensive unit plan, including lesson plans, vocabulary words, worksheets, and more!
- Quick Student Workbooks
- Designed to get students thinking critically about the text they read and provide a guided study format to facilitate in improved learning and retention
Covers
Penguin Readers Covers
Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. Simplified story texts are combined with beautiful original illustrations for students aged 7 and above.